Moscow cuts coal supply to Kyiv
“In these 50 days, we will definitely be able to find a solution to the coal supply issue, including shipments from South Africa and from other suppliers”, he added.
Last winter, the shortage of anthracite coal that many Ukrainian power plants use had caused power cuts and forced Kyiv to sign electricity and coal supply contracts with Russian Federation amid the unprecedented crisis in bilateral relations. Gazprom claims Ukraine used up all the gas it had paid for, says the BBC. Fitch Ratings has upgraded the Long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of Ukraine’s national oil and gas company, Naftogaz, to “CCC” from “CC”, the agency reported on Thursday.
Gazprom in 2006 and 2009 cut gas supplies to Ukraine in part because of contractual disputes.
He said that Russia’s share in Ukraine’s agricultural exports has fallen to 2.2 percent in January-October 2015 from 6.7 percent in the same period of the previous year.
On the other hand, the EU’s executive arm, the European Commission which has been mediating the gas row between the sides, noted that Ukraine’s gas reserves are well stocked and that the mild recent weather means that consumption has been below average. On Wednesday Ukraine announced it was to stop buying gas from its giant neighbor and banned all Russian airlines from crossing its airspace, in the latest escalation between the two neighbors.
Crimea gets most of its power and water from Ukraine, which until now has maintained supplies despite the Russian occupation because of corruption and a desire not to inflict hardship on the civilian population.
Temperatures in Ukraine, where most homes rely on gas for central heating, were below freezing Wednesday morning.
This article was written by Nataliya Vasilyeva from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.